Review of the Tracfone LG Premier (L62VL) LTE Smartphone
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| Tracfone LG Premier Review |
In this review of the LG Premier we will share the full specs and features, and also compare the Premier to the LG Rebel, LG Treasure, and LG Stylo 2, which are all currently available from Tracfone.
Take a look at our list of New Samsung and LG Phones coming to Tracfone to see the full lineup. There are also several different iPhone's coming to Tracfone as well. In fact, you can already get the Tracfone iPhone 5S from Target.
The Premier comes with a 5.3" touchscreen which is a nice size for most people. It also has Android 5.1 Lolipop and uses a quad-core processor.
Let's look at our quick list of pro's and con's for the Premier.
LG Premier Quick Facts:
The Good:-5.3" touchscreen (1280x720 resolution)
-1.2 Ghz quad-core processor
- Full HD Video Recording
The Not So Good:
- 8 GB Internal Memory (about 4 GB usable)
- 1 GB RAM
The Premier has several great features, but, like most Tracfone smartphones, it struggles with both internal memory and RAM. The low internal memory simply means you can't store as many apps or photos on this phone, while the low RAM means you can't run too many programs at once. If these are big concerns for you, we suggest taking a look at the wide variety of smartphones you can use with Tracfone BYOP.
There are two versions of the LG Premier from Tracfone - the L62VL which we are writing about here, and the L61AL. They are both identical except for which network they use - GSM or CDMA. The 'VL' version uses Verizon LTE while the 'AL' version uses AT&T LTE (both through Tracfone prepaid service). Currently, only the VL version of the Premier is available.
The Premier fits into the Tracfone smartphone lineup as a mid-level device with a good screen but fairly mediocre other features. It is slightly better than the LG Rebel and Treasure, mostly because of the larger screen (but also an improvement in the camera megapixels) but not as good as the LG Stylo 2.
Let's see the full list of features and specifications for the LG Premier.
LG Premier L62VL Features and Specs List
Below are the phone's features, followed by the technical specs.- Android 5.1.1 lollipop
- 4G LTE connectivity on CDMA networks (Verizon)
- 8 MP Rear Camera, 5 MP Front Camera
- WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1 capable
- Access to over 1 Million apps on Google Play
- MP3 Player
- Alarm Clock
- GPS
- 2 Home Screens
- Voicemail, Voice Dialing, Caller ID
- Handsfree Speaker
- Hearing Aid Compatible
- 3.5mm Headphone connecting
- Speaker phone
- Text to speach
- Proximity/Accelerometer Sensor
- Size: 5.77" x 2.95" x 0.34"
- 5.3" TFT Touchscreen with 1280x720 resolution
- 1.2 Ghz Quad-Core Processor
- 1 GB RAM
- 8 GB Internal Memory (about 3 GB usable)
- 2300 mAh Battery with 14 hrs talk time, 11 days standby
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| LG Premier for Tracfone |
LG is one of the largest electronics manufacturers, and has a substantial mobile phone lineup. They are based in South Korea, along with Samsung which is another popular cell phone manufacturer.
While certain Chinese manufacturers (like ZTE, Alcatel) are producing less expensive smartphones, LG and Samsung mobile devices usually have better longevity and value. We expect to see more and more budget friendly smartphones coming from both China and Korea that offer good value for the price as the cost of technology slowly drops.
Keep in mind that airtime works a little different on Tracfone smartphones. Prepaid airtime is split into three 'pools' of talk, text and data. When you add airtime, you get a certain amount of each. Regular Tracfone airtime cards will triple on Tracfone smartphones, but the new smartphone-only cards do not triple. Learn more about how this all works be reading our Comparison of Tracfone Airtime Cards and How they Work.
Let's get into our full review of the LG Premier and see some of the key pro's and con's for this device.
Tracfone LG Premier L62VL Review
What we LikeThere are a lot of good features that come with the Premier including the screen size, processor, camera and Android operating system.
The 5.3" touchscreen is a comfortable size for many, making it easier to see, and easier to type on the virtual keyboard. It has HD resolution of 1280x720, with about 277 DPI which is quite good. This helps make the screen more detailed and vivid compared to the Rebel, which has less pixel density. The screen is plastic, like many budget LG phones, but it has a beveled edge that gives it a nice look and feel.
A Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.2 Ghz quad-core processor powers the Premier, helping make it quick and responsive. If it were paired with more RAM, it would be able to handle more multitasking.
Both the rear and front cameras on the LG Premier are actually pretty good with the rear camera even capable of full HD video recording at 1920x1080. We're very surprised at the camera and the number of features that comes with it, including:
LG Premier Camera Features:
- Cheese shot - say 'cheese' to take a photo
- Gesture shot - use a hand gesture to snap a selfie
- Burst shot - for capturing multiple images
- Live shot - take photos while recording video
- 4x Zoom (digital)
- Rear Flash
- Self timer
Lastly, the LG Premier comes with Android 5.1.1 which is a newer version of the Android operating system. With Tracfone, you can't update the phone's OS (for various reasons) so getting a phone with a newer version of Android is generally a good idea. Older versions of Android have known vulnerabilities that can jeopardize the security of your phone. All the newer LG phones from Tracfone use Android 5.1.1.
That concludes are main likes for the LG Premier. We also want to share a few things about this phone we don't like and thing consumers should be aware of before buying
What we Don't Like
Basically there are two main dislikes about this phone - internal memory and RAM.
The RAM, which is 1 GB on the Premier, allows the phone to run multiple apps at once. The more RAM a phone has, the more things it can do at once before it starts slowing down, or even freezing up. It would be nice if the Premier came with 1.5 or 2 GB RAM. If you aren't running graphic intensive apps, or too many apps at once, you shouldn't notice too much of a problem with the RAM.
However, internal memory is where you store apps, music, pictures, and other data. The Premier comes with 8 GB, but only about 3 GB is actually available to use. This is enough for a handful of apps, but if you start to take a lot of photos, or add more and more apps, you will run out. You can add up to 32GB extra storage with a Micro SD card, but not everything can be transferred to the card. We hope to see more budget phones from Tracfone with at least 16 GB memory in the near future.
Checking your airtime balance isn't as easy to do on Tracfone smartphones, but we've created a guide with 4 ways to check your Tracfone Airtime Balance if you need some help learning how to do that.
Overall the LG Premier is a good budget smartphone with small improvements in screen size, processor and camera over the LG Rebel and Treasure, and a smaller screen compared to the LG Stylo 2. They all share a lot of the same features and specs.
To learn more about this device, check out Tracfone's interactive tutorial and the LG Specs List (PDF)
Where to Buy the LG Premier
The LG Premier is currently available through QVC.com where you also get it bundled with airtime and other accessories.The phone occasionally goes on sale, but usually retails for $130 (including airtime). This is a pretty good deal, as the airtime, 1350 minutes plus 1 year service, usually retails for about $100.
We haven't found the Premier available anywhere else yet, but will update when we do.
This concludes our review of the LG Premier for use with Tracfone prepaid service. We will be comparing all of the new LG smartphones soon, so look for that in the near future.
A great way to keep with all our news, reviews and information is to follow us on Facebook where we have a growing community of over 2000 and you can easily post questions to our wall, or message us directly.
Leave a comment below with any thoughts or questions about the Premier. We moderate all comments to help remove any spam.
Here are some additional resources we have created for those using or buying a Tracfone Smartphone:
Visit our Tracfone Smartphone Activation Guide if you would like some tips and advice on the activation process with Tracfone.
Our Cell Phone Reviews page page is a great place to start if you're searching for a new phone. it lists all of our cell phone reviews in one place.
We've also shared information on How to Buy Only Texts for your Smartphone and also How to Add More Data to your Tracfone Smartphone for those who tend to run low on these.
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How does it compare to Ultimate 2 in reliability and performance?
ReplyDeleteAnybody get the QVC package and transferred the old phone's number and remaining minutes/data ?
only 1 gig of ram? forget it.
ReplyDeleteGot the phone on QVC, have not transferred anything yet. Have you?
ReplyDeleteI got the QVC package, but have not transferred anything as yet. Have you?
ReplyDeleteHow do you find the LG Premier compares with the ZTE ZMAX 2 which is can be had for the same $129 including a year of Tracfone service? I've used your search function, but don't find you've reviewed the ZMAX 2. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places. ZMAX 2 seems to be a bit larger and heavier but comes with 16GB of storage from HSN.
ReplyDeletei got the qvc package; transfer went very smoothly....... Have used this phone about a week now and it's a great device.
ReplyDeleteI got the QVC deal, and I have transferred the minutes. It was easy and the minutes that were sold with the phone were automatically added to what I transferred. They include so many minutes with the phone that it almost pays for itself. I even took myself off the Tracfone monthly billing, so that I save some money for a few months and recoup the money I spent on the phone.
ReplyDeleteThe phone itself feels much more responsive than the Ultimate 2 (which was my previous phone). The quad core processor makes a big difference. The screen is noticeably larger, sharp, good colors, but a bit on the dim side. I kept the Ultimate at 50% brightness, but I'll probably keep this at around 65 or 70%.
A larger screen and faster processor means more battery drain. I still get through the day with plenty of life left, but if you use the screen a lot and do intensive things on your phone you may want a charger with you during the day.
The cell signal is about what I got with the Ultimate 2. Some phones I've had seem to vary with their ability to pick up cell towers in weak areas. The signal strength on the Premier is on a par with the Ultimate.
Cameras are much, much better than the Ultimate 2.
The phone feels great in the hand. Great size, nice form factor. One thing I do want to mention though: Many reviews I've read online mention a "plastic" screen. I don't think that's accurate. I got the phone thinking I would immediately get scratches all over the screen, but when it arrived I noticed that the look and feel of the screen was more like glass. I did a little research, and the best I can tell from websites that list the specs for the LG Premier (and the LG K10, which is the earlier version of this phone) is that it has a "2.5D arc glass" screen, which is a glass screen (not necessarily gorilla glass, though it could be) that has a beveled or curved edge that rounds out the edges of the glass. This is what I believe is on the phone. It feels like glass, not plastic.
I hope this helps.
Hello there, I read your post and noticed your mention of a somewhat dim screen. I noticed this too. You may want to go to settings where you tap on the word display. Under "brightness" you'll see a box marked automatic. I noticed that if you uncheck that box you will notice a significant increase in brightness. On my phone the box was checked (probably a default setting to save the battery). when the "automatic" box is checked, the phone relies on a built in light sensor and adjusts the screens brightness accordingly. For me, I found it to be too dim if left on automatic. Not sure if this is what your experiencing but I hope this helps. I have only had mine for a few days but it seems like a nice phone, Good luck with your new phone....Cheers.....Steve
DeleteYes. I did do that. That is a good suggestion for those who may not realize such a setting exists.
DeleteHowever, even after I unchecked the auto brightness feature, it seemed a bit more dim than I was used to. I still set the brightness (manually) higher than I did on the Ultimate 2
I have been thinking about buying this phone. Several reviews at HSN mentioned poor voice quality.
ReplyDeleteCan you comment on that?
I have not found that to be the case. Voice quality is fine.
DeleteHsn has the LG premier right now (10-9-16) for $119.95 with 1200 min,data,and texts
ReplyDeleteThe reviewer states the main reason the Premier is better than the Rebel is because the screen size is 5.3 inches as opposed to a 4.5 inch.
ReplyDeleteI feel the opposite and state the Rebel is better because at 4.5 inches its about the largest size phone you can have and be able to still fit in your shirt pocket. Perfect size.
I bought the one on QVC. I'd like to buy the 32GB sim card. Do I have to buy a certain one or will any one work? How do I install it?
ReplyDeleteI got my daughter. One for Christmas soon as we active. It next day. It said invalid. Sim card had call tracfone send me new sims card did it again this is 3rd sims card like a dumbie i got same phone well had it week same thang invalid sims card. Save your self the trouble. Get another phone
ReplyDeleteI got my daughter. One for Christmas soon as we active. It next day. It said invalid. Sim card had call tracfone send me new sims card did it again this is 3rd sims card like a dumbie i got same phone well had it week same thang invalid sims card. Save your self the trouble. Get another phone
ReplyDeleteThis phone is OK. I definitely concur with the reviewer's suggestion that you go with the BYOP program and pay a little more for a phone that will accept System Updates and security patches.
ReplyDeleteI bought one of these LG L62VL Premiere phones about a month ago. I went to do a software update, and it said "No Updates available at this time" (Tracfone) Being security minded, I thought it was unusual because the Security Patch level is 18 months old. I called LG, and they told me I should upgrade to 6.0.1 immediately. I asked how, and they told me that software updates and patches are carrier-specific. So I called Tracfone. The "helpful" Technical support agent told me how to get to Software Update and check for Updates, which I had already done. He said that if it showed no updates, then no updates were available.
There are MAJOR security vulnerabilities for this phone, involving elevation of privilege (takeover of device), permissions flaws, remote Code Execution, Information Disclosure, and possibly introduction of malware due to the way the phone handles certain processes.
You can read about them on ZDNet, TechGenix, ThreatPost, SANS, just about any good security newletter--and search for "Android Vulnerabilities." Tracfone does not issue OS updates OR security patches for its phones, so using this phone is kind of like running Windows XP or Vista without having Windows Security Updates or antivirus software installed. Buyer Beware!
Had this phone a year and a half. It is now locked up with Process Android.Process.Media and will not allow me to go in with the computer to "clean" out the bad memory users.
ReplyDeleteWould not buy this phone again. I've put in a memory card but cannot get the data, photos, etc., to go to it.
Anyone know of a "good" lower priced cell?